Non-reusable receptacle



Nov. 13, 1962 c. c. sovlA ETAL 3,063,600

NoN-REUSABLE RECEPTACLE Filed Feb. 24, 1959 V 5MM/Mm..

Arme/vizi United States Patent iitice hd'd Patented Nov. 13, 1962 3,063,66@ NQN-REUSABLE RECEPTACLE Cedric C. Sor/ia, Forest Lake, Minn., and Henry Papp, Santa Gara, Caiit., assignors, by mesne assignments, to General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Filed liebt 24, i959, Ser. No. 795,273 7 Claims. (Cl. 222-193) This invention relates to non-reusable receptacles. More particularly, it relates to an inexpensive non-reusable receptacle uniquely constructed to facilitate its connection in iiuid communicating relation with a conduit or other receptacle.

There are many instances where it is desirable that a receptacle for a given product be manufactured in such a manner that it is non-reusable. One example is a receptacle for a mixture of ilock and adhesive, the latter being in dry powder form, wherein it is important that the receptacle be airtight. Unscrupulous individuals have been known to attempt to reuse such receptacles by imperfectly rescaling them with the result that the bags leak and cause considerable damage and messiness. Such inferior products are incapable of detection without costly inspection methods and therefore it is highly desirable that the bag be so constructed that when it is opened, it will be impossible for such an individual to reseal the bag without greater expense being involved than would be involved in the original cost of the container or receptacle. lt is also important therefore that the construction of the receptacle itself be of such low cost that such attempts to imperfectly reseal the receptacle will be discouraged. Our invention is designed to satisfy all of these desirable conditions and to at the same time provide highly improved means for connecting the receptacle to a flock gun, for example, or to another receptacle or other type or" conduit. From the description given below, it will be seen that we have designed a unique receptacle and also a flock gun of unique construction which when utilized together yield a highly improved performance.

It is a general object of our invention to provide a novel and improved receptacle of simple and inexpensive construction and improved efficiency.

A more specific obiect is to provide a novel and improved receptacle capable of being manufactured inexpensively and incapable of being reused without the cost thereof amounting to more than the original cost' of the container.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved receptacle which when opened will be capable of being readily attached in a simple manner to a conduit, gun, or other receptacle.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved receptacle which when opened will provide an unobstructed opening consisting of a section of' the wall of the receptacle being removed.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved receptacle having unusually simple and novel means for opening the same quickly and effectively.

Another object is to provide a novel flock gun construction having inherent attachment means adapted to cooperatively engage inherent wall structure of a novel receptacle to connect the two in fluid communication in a highly and improved effective manner.

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear from the following description, made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FlG. l is a side elevational view of one embodiment of our invention with portions thereof broken away;

FlG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the receptacle which we have designed to hold the dock and facilitate attachment and detachment relative to the flock applicating gun;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of our flock applicating gun;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the gun with the flock containing receptacle removed therefrom;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5--5 of PEG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of FG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a rear elevational view of the sealing and gun engaging means carried by the llock containing receptacle; and

FiG. 8 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along lines 8-8 of FIG. 2.

ri'his application is related to our co-pending application entitled Method and Apparatus for Applying Flock, Serial No. 705,945, filed January 9', 1959, now Patent No. 3,G2l,079. The invention claimed herein consists of the unique bag construction and the combination thereof with the unique gun construction. In our co-pending application, we are claiming the method and the specific features of the ock applying gun.

The embodiment of our invention that is shown in FGS. l-S includes, a receptacle indicated generally by the numeral i@ which is secured to a flock applicator gun indicated generally by the numeral 1l which in turn is connected to a container l2. The invention disclosed with respect to the receptacle lil alone and in combination with the applicator gun is claimed herein.

The receptacle l@ is preferably a bag having wall structure formed of thin flexible heat scalable material 13 such as polyethylene. The particular receptacle 1G which we utilize with our ock applicator gun ll is provided with an annular thickened resilient portion 14 which is in the nature or" an outwardly extending annular rib. "this rib i4 may be formed, if desired, in the construction of the bag or, as preferred and as shown herein may be applied to the receptacle lil by heat sealing such a structure as the thickened portion 1d to the wall structure of the bag. rl`his can best be seen by reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. A second relatively thick portion which is annular in shape and preferably concentric with the annular rib 14 is designated by the numeral 15 and this thickened portion 15 is likewise heat sealed to the wall structure i3 of the bag. lt will be noted by reference to FIG. 8 that there is a relatively thin intermediate portion 16 also heat sealed to the wall structure 13 of the bag and disposed between the thickened annular portion 15 and the thickened annular portion ld. This relatively thin area serves a very useful purpose as will be hereinafter described. It will also be noted that a tab 17 is carried by the thickened portion 15. The purpose of this unique construction is to provide a ready means for opening the receptacle 10 in such a manner that it will not be reusable and will provide a quickly available opening within the annular rib la, Ifor when the user pulls on the tab 17 the thickened Vthe container 12 as best shown in FIG. 1.

annular portion will tear the relatively thin area lo to thereby remove all of the wall structure of the bag within the thickened annular portion 14. This provides the necessary opening for communication between the interior of the receptacle 1li* and the interior of the material-conveying branch conduit of the gun 1l which will be hereinafter described.

We have found that we can obviate the disadvantage of clogging of the oriiices through which the adhesive actuator is sprayed by mixing the llock well with a powdered adhesive within the receptacle lil so that each particle of the flock will carry at least one particle of adhesive and preferably will be dusted on all sides with such adhesive, Thus, when the flock becomes airborne and is carried outwardly from the receptacle i6, it carries with it a certain amount of powdered adhesive which can be actuated by water or some other satisfactory liquid.

The container 12 may be an ordinary type container, preferably with a threaded upper end portion adapted to threadedly engage a cover member indicated generally by the numeral l. This cover member 18 of the gun ll carries an air conduit 19 which is adapted to be connected to a source of a strong ilow of air. For the sake of simplicity and to make my apparatus more readily usable by housewives, we have found that the air conduit 19 may be connected by a flexible hose such as 2li to the discharge of a vacuum cleaner of a type which is commonly found in modern homes. The vacuum cleaner and the connection thereto has not been shown herein because it does not constitute apart of the invention and because any readily availablesource of iiow of air may be utilized.

The air conduit 19 has a branch conduit 21 which as shown has a discharge end portion indicated by the numeral 22. A tube 23 extends within the branch conduit 22 and terminates at the discharge end portion as best shown in FIG. 5. This tube 23 extends downwardly through the wall structure of the branch conduit 22 and through the cover 18 to a position adjacent the bottom of The tube 23 is positioned in this manner so that as the strong llow of air rushes through the air conduit i9 and the branch conduit 22, the water or other adhesive actuator which will be carried in the container 12 will be drawn outwardly through the small tube 23 and discharged at the discharge end portion 22 whereat it will be broken into line spray form by the action of the outwardly rushing air through the discharge end portion 22 of the branch conduit 2l. It will be noted that the spray of water emanating from the tube 23 will be in an unconiined flow.

The air conduit 19* has a second branch which constitutes a material-conveying branch conduit 24. This branch conduit 2,4 extends parallel to the branch conduit 21 for a major portion of its length and then angles inwardly and terminates in a terminal portion indicated by the numeral 25. It will be noted that this terminal portion 2S is directed in such a way that the flow therefrom will converge with the ow from the discharge end portion 22 of the branch conduit 2l and that the ow from each of these branch conduits will be unconiined at their point of juncture.

The material-conveying branch conduit Zrirhas a transversely extending barrier or plug 26 within which is a relatively small opening 27 which extends longitudinally of the branch conduit 24 and gives direction to the iiow of the fibrous material such as liock and adhesive after it leaves the receptacle 1b. The major portion of the air which iiows into the branch conduit 24, however, is directed laterally by a liow directing element such as scoop 28. This scoop 23 as can best be seen in FiGS. l and 3 extends laterally to within the contines of the receptacle 10 and has its opening directed downwardly and slightly rearwardly so as to cause the flow of air to be directed toward the bottom of the receptacle 1% and thereby insure that the flock and adhesive will be properly entrained in the flow of air which is forced through the receptacle. It will be noted that the scoop 2S is disposed rearwardly of the barrier 26. The material-conveying conduit 24 is also provided with a material inlet 29 and it will be noted that this inlet is disposed forwardly of the barrier 26. Thus, it can be readily seen that the major portion of the air flow which enters the material-conveying conduit 2d passes laterally into the receptacle 1Q via the scoop 28 and entrains a portion of the ilock and adhesive which it carries outwardly with it through the material inlet 29 back into ythe interior of the materialconveying conduit 24. As it re-enters the material-conveying conduit 24, the flow is given a directional impetus by the minor portieri of the air flow which passes longitudinally of the material-conveying conduit 24 through the opening 27 and thus the airborne flow of iiock and adhesive is carried outwardly longitudinally oi the discharge end portion 25 of the branch conduit 24. It will be noted that the flow of flock and adhesive is unconlined after it leaves the discharge end portion 25 and that it remains in this forni until it converges with and interrnixes with the flow from the branch conduit 21 at approxi4 mately the point indicated by the letter X in FIG. 3.

It will be noted that the material-conveying conduit 7.2i has a recessed portion 36 which is shaped to conform to the shape of the annular thickened portion 14 of the receptacle l0. The size of this recessed portion is such that the resilient rib 14 will lit therein in snug rictional engaging relation. It will also be noted that the material carrying branch conduit 24 also supports a pair of upstanding sharpened pins 31 and 32 at the upper side of the recessed portion 3d. These pins 31 and 32 are provided to cooperate with apertures 33 and 34 in a tab portion 35 connected to the rib 14. To apply the receptacle lil to the gun 1l the user merely pulls the tab i7 and thereby opens the receptacle lll as hereinbefore described and then inserts the pins 31 and 32 in the openings 33 and 34 and perforates the sealed ofi portion of the bag and then snaps the annular rib or thickened portion 14 into place within the recessed portion 30 of the branch conduit 24. This provides an extremely simple, effective and quick means for positively securing the receptacle 16 in sealed relation to the gun 11.

Each of the branch conduits 21 and 24 is provided with ya slidable valve which interlocks so that the user may always rest assured that the branch conduit 21 has air flowing therethrough whenever air is ilowing through the branch conduit 24. The branch conduit 24- is provided with a vertically slidable imperforate valve member 36 which has a laterally extending ear 37 that extends toward the branch conduit 2l. Directly opposite to this valve member 36 and extending across the interior of the branch conduit 2l is a second valve member 38 provided with a laterally extending interengaging ear 39 which as best shown in FiG. l overlaps the ear 3'7 so that whenever the valve 36 is lifted to open the same, the valve 38 must also necessarily be lifted and opened therewith. The valve 38 is provided with a by-pass 40 which causes the flow of air to be directed outwardly of the gun through the upper portion of the valve 38 when the valve is closed,

It will be noted that in the receptacle construction disclosed herein the resilient annular rib 14 and the second armular thickened portion 15 as well as the intermediate portion l5 therebetween has been described as heat sealed to the wall structure or the bag. lt will be readily understood, of course, that the wall structure of the bag could be formed initially with the rib i4, intermediate portion i6 and thickened portion 15 incorporated in the bag as initially constructed. We have shown these elements in the instant application as being applied to the original wall structure of the bag by heat sealing the same thereto as well as the material extending between the boundaries of the thickened portion l5. It will be readily appreciated however, that for all practical purposes, the material which has been heat sealed to the initial wall structure of the bag constitutes (for all practical purposes) an integrally formed construction and we have so considered it herein.

From the above it can be seen that we have provided a unique bag construction which has several definite advantages. It will be noted that as a result of the area within the rib 14 being torn completely away, it is impossible for anyone to reuse the bag without becoming involved in considerable expense which in all probability will exceed the total construction cost of the bag initially. It will also be noted that the opening of the bag can be accomplished in an extremely simple manner by merely pulling upon the tab 17, which action will cause the intermediate portion 16 to tear so that the entire wall structure within the annular member 14 will be removed. Thus a clean and suiciently large opening is provided for ready passage of the Hock and adhesive therethrough.

It will also be noted that the resilient annular rib 14 cooperates with the recessed portion 30 of the air conveying conduit 24 to effectively connect the interior of the receptacle 1t) with the interior of the material-conveying conduit. The effectiveness of this seal can be most readily appreciated when it is realized that a strong flow of air is forced through the gun and through the recepetacle Without any leaking taking place between the recessed portion 30 and the rib 14. The tab portion 35 which is pierced lby the sharpened pins 31 and 32 of the gun preclude the bag being knocked free of the gun in the event an obstacle is struck with the bag while moving the gun and bag together. IIn other Words, the securing action provided by the pins 31 and 32 and the tab portion 35 constitute a precautionary locking means to prevent the seal between the rib 14 and recessed p0rtion 30 being broken as the result of an accident.

It should also be noted that a non-reusable bag is important in the manufacture and distribution of products such as diock and powdered adhesive. Unscrupulous individuals might attempt to reuse these bags in such a manner that small air leaks would not be discernible to the average purchaser, with the result that the material within the receptacle would take on moisture and cake and thereby, of course, become completely valueless and incapable of use.

An additional advantage of our unique receptacle is that it can be manufactured so inexpensively. Receptacles such as are disclosed herein can be manufactured very simply and inexpensively through the usual procedure of taking a conventional polyethylene bag and heat sealing to one wall structure thereof, a tab of similar material having the rib 14, the thickened portion 16 and the intermediate portion therebetween formed thereon. When such a tab is heat sealed as shown in the drawings, the resulting receptacle is ready for use and can be manufactured and distributed in large quantities at relatively low cost.

Another advantage of this type of non-reusable receptacle is that its use so readily facilitates the manufacture and sale of a product such as a mixture of Hock and adhesive. It is a simple matter for the user to disconnect the emptied receptacle and substitute another filled receptacle therefor with a consequent substantial saving in time, effort and inconvenience. In this connection, it will be noted that it is not necessary for the user to handle the ock and adhesive at any time in an unsealed condition. This is important for the handling of such material normally has considerable messiness attendant therewith.

It will, of course, be under-stood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportion of the parts without departing from the scope of our invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A non-reusable receptacle comprising a closable bag having a polymeric wall structure with an outer surface, and an annular rib element having an inner edge 6 secured to the outer surface of the polymeric wall structure of said bag, said rib element being adapted to frictiona-lly engage the walls of a recess in a conduit of a materials applicator, the polymeric Wall structure of said bag within said rib element being continuous and readily tearable, means connected to Ithe portion of said wal-l structure located within said rib element which when a force is applied thereto exerts a force normal to said portion `at substantially Where said inner edge is secured to said Wall structure and thereby providing a shearing stress which acts along said edge to cause said wall structure within said -rib element to tear along said inner edge.

2. The structure defined in claim l where the entire Wall structure of sai-d bag is formed of a readily tearable polymeric material.

3. The structure defined in claim l in which said connected means is a tab secured to said readily tearable polymeric wall portion to facilitate removal thereof from within said annular rib.

-4. The structure defined in claim l in which, said bag wall structure has a second rib member which is thinner than said annular rib element, said second rib being disposed wit-hin said annular rib, having a shape corresponding to a portion of the inner edge of said annular rib, being in spaced relation thereto and being secured to said wall portion disposed within said annular rib to facilitate removal of the readily tearable lwall portion within said annular rib.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in which, said second rib member disposed within said annular rib element is connected thereto by a relatively thin narrow intermediate portion whereby said intermediate portion will tear when a pulling force is exerted on said second rib member to thereby remove all wall structure within said annularlrib.

6. In a fibrous material applicator, a gun having a material-conveying conduit ladapted to be connected to a source of rapid oW of air, said conduit having a recess formed in its wall structure and having means at one point in the conduit for introducing air into said recess and having means at another point farther `along in said conduit for allowing air to pass from said recess into said conduit, and a bag having an annular outstanding rib element on its outer wa-ll surface, the outer dimensions and shape of said rib element being the same as the size and shape of said gun recess, the wall structure of said .bag within said annular rib element having an opening therein, said ri-b element extending into said recess .to frictionally engage the inner surfaces of said recess and thereby frictionally securing said bag to said gun with the interior of said bag in fluid communication with the interior of said conduit via said recess.

7. In a fibrous material application, a gun having a ruaterial-conveying conduit adapted to be connected to a source of rapid flow of air, said conduit having a recess lformed in its wall structure and having means lat one point in the conduit for introducing air into said recess and having means at another point `farther along in said conduit for allowing air to pass from said recess into said conduit, outwardly extending impalement means upstandingly mounted on said gun adjacent said recess, a bag having an annular outstanding rib element on its outer wall surface, the outer dimensions and shape of said rib element being the same as the dimensions and shape of said recess, the wall structure of said bag Within said annular rib element having an opening therein, and a tab element with apertures therein connected to said mb element, said rib element extending into said recess to friction-ally engage the inner surfaces of said recesses and said tab element apertures being impaled on said impalement means, said frictional engagement and said aperture impalement cooperatively securing said bag to said gun with the interior of said bag in fluid communication with the interior of said conduit via Said recess.

(References on foilowiug page) S Segesman Mar. 12, 1957 Meyerhoefer May 14, 1957 Stevens et al Aug. 27, 1957 Elder et a1. V Nov. 26, 1957 Metzger Ian. 28, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS France May 23, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No, 3,063,600 November I3, 1962 Cedric Cc, Sovia et alo It is hereby certified that errorappears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that th e said Letters Patent should read as corrected below. i

Column 6, line 53, for *"applioation read applicator line 69, for "recesses" read erecess Signed and sealed this 30th day of April 1963.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

